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Learning PROCESS

Tournament poker is the reason I got into the game. Flashback to 2003, I remember watching ESPN with fascination and diving head first into low-limit cash games and losing my ass. I played my cash game sessions the way I learned the game through final table highlights and all-in hands edited into neat little one hour episodes. Playing this way has cost me money over the years and it’s a hard habit to break playing this way when I’m not entirely focused. I’ve almost completely phased out playing this way in tournaments but somehow it keeps showing up in my cash game sessions. Sometimes I lose focus and I go into autopilot and play this way and it’s totally costing me money.

I had a great week grinding tournaments, I played 11 and made 4 final tables. I got two 3rds, a 5th and a 7th winning almost 9 mbtc…but I still broke even because I fell back into old habits and tried to run it up playing multiple cash game tables. It took me roughly 9-10 hours to win those mbtc playing those tournaments and only 30 mins to lose it back playing cash games! It really hurt losing that mbtc so quickly because when I play tournaments I give it my all and try my hardest. It’s very disappointing losing the money I earned working so hard to get in such a quick fashion but what do you expect when you play a coin flip style of play???

I need to maintain my focus and think about the big picture. Just because I run/play good in tournaments it doesn’t mean I can dominate cash games. It doesn’t work like that, I’ve devoted hours upon hours to tournament poker and built my skill level up now I need to do it for my cash game. I plan to re-read the cash game section in Doyle Brunson’s Super System and hit the higher limit play money tables on Pokerstars till I get some confidence in my game. I want to become a well rounded player and have multiple ways of earning money through poker.

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4 comments

Hi, I enjoyed reading your blog. I have been playing poker online for fun for years. But, it is only recently I have decided that I would like to try for real. I am still trying to wrap my head around learning. And betting plays are next. What type of poker do you play the most? And what is most profitable for you?

No limit Texas holdem is by far my best game. I suggests you play some lower buy-in tournaments and get your feet wet. Cash games are also very profitable but there can be some real sharks out there so be careful especially if you’re still learning .

Thank you for sharing your experience. I have not started playing with my own cash yet for exactly the reason mentioned above. I want to be able to differentiate when I am playing against a maniac or a tight aggressive player. I have been going through the lessons on pokerology.com and really enjoying understanding the strategy and the reason for raising and bluffing. I love the psychology.